Magazine Monday: Linguine With Scallops, Brown Butter, and Peas

It's been a while since I participated in Magazine Monday. Certainly it's not because I have run out of foodie magazines sitting around in stacks. But I have gotten better about weeding them out.



There is actually a morbid reason why I am getting a bit better at tossing things I am done with. Not too long ago I read an article about a woman dying, quite expectantly as she wasn't ill or elderly or anything, but there was all that mess to go through in her house. Then I saw something else similar in a movie we watched recently.

It's bad enough I have a forest worth of paper in the form of genealogy notes stuffed in the downstairs closet. Bad enough I have every single letter my father wrote me up until the day he died; all the cards from my husband and son over the past 30 years.........clothes I can't wear but refuse to accept I won't ever be a size 6 again...you get the idea.

Cleaning up, bits at a time. That's me. Pacing myself. Now that I dumped those morbid thoughts in your head, let me share a recipe from a magazine (which has departed the premises) that's healthy, easy and quite summery.

Linguine With Scallops, Brown Butter, and Peas


Photo from Real Simple


Ingredients
· 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
· 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· kosher salt and black pepper
· 12 ounces linguine (3⁄4 box)
· 1 cup frozen peas
· 16 sea scallops (about 1 1⁄2 pounds), patted dry
· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
·
Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the bread crumbs and lemon zest with 1 tablespoon of the oil and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Bake, tossing once, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes; let cool.

2. Meanwhile, cook the linguine according to the package directions, adding the peas during the last minute of cooking. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta; reserve the pot.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the scallops with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until golden brown on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook until opaque throughout, 1 to 2 minutes more.

4. Wipe out the pasta pot and cook the butter over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the pasta and peas, scallops, tarragon, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ cup of the reserved cooking water and toss to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry). Serve sprinkled with the toasted bread crumbs.

From Real Simple Magazine, September 2011 Linking up to Ivonne's Magazine Monday Series.